U.S. stocks decline as dollar rises

J.P. Morgan Chase advances as Dimon reassures on dividend

By

KateGibson

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — U.S. stocks declined Tuesday, with the Dow industrials ending near a four-month low, as economic reports failed to deflect the latest breakdown in Greece’s attempts to form a coalition.

“Today we had some good economic numbers, but worries over in euro land” hit the single currency, said Peter Cardillo, chief economist at Rockwell Gobal Capital. The euro’s fall helped propel the dollar to a four-month high as investors sought the perceived safety of the American currency over riskier assets, including equities and commodities.

Finishing lower for a ninth out of the last 10 sessions, the Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA, +0.08%
shed 63.35 points, or 0.5%, to 12,632.

Wall Street is in the process of “wringing out the excess of overoptimism. Once we’ve done that, we can get back to looking at fundamentals with more realistic eyes, and there are some bright spots: the United States is holding up reasonably well,” said Bruce McCain, chief investment strategist at Key Private Bank.

“People are reconciled to the fact that Greece is headed for some sort of cliff, but most feel it’s far enough out in the future that it’s an overhang,” he added.

Greece’s president said the country would hold new elections as party leaders failed to reach agreement, with the upcoming balloting seen as a referendum on whether to remain in the euro.

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